It's easy to lose hundreds of hours playing certain video games. Whether you're running around checking off every box on your to-do list or simply engaging with the game's world and mechanics, you might end up hearing the same song playing in the background for long periods of time.
If you're struggling to defeat a difficult boss or playing more Gwent in The Witcher than you anticipated, it's nice to mute your TV and listen to some of your favorite music or an album you've been holding off on. The music in the game you're playing is likely phenomenal, but sometimes a change of atmosphere during repetitive gameplay sequences and minigames is also welcome.
Updated on June 29th, 2023, by Kyle Chamaillard: Whether you're grinding through levels in the latest title or playing the same game that's kept you busy for years, it's still nice to find time to mute your TV so you can listen to something else for a bit. We've decided to update this list to include even more of the best games perfect for playing while listening to music on the side.
12 Slay The Spire
Slay the Spire launched in 2019 and continues to be one of the most popular games in the deck-building genre. It features unique characters that significantly affect the gameplay and an overwhelming amount of cards that create seemingly infinite strategies to experiment with.
Each run in Slay the Spire can last between five minutes to an hour, and it's easy to start a new one immediately after facing defeat or victory. The music in Slay the Spire is perfect for setting up atmosphere and tension, but after completing your first few runs, you might be tempted to listen to something else as you continue to unlock new characters and items.
11 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom contains a massive open world that you can easily spend hundreds of hours exploring before advancing the narrative forward. Like Breath of the Wild before it, Tears of the Kingdom has an ambient quality that makes it feel harrowing but also invites you to provide your own background music for the epic adventure if you choose.
The score throughout the game is amazing and sets the tone perfectly, but with the amount of time you'll likely spend exploring the Depths, Sky Islands, and everything in between, you might be tempted to throw something else on to help keep you moving. Between soundtracks from older Zelda titles or the newest album from your favorite band, the options are as limitless as the Zonai Devices scattered throughout Tears of the Kingdom.
10 Tetris 99
Most battle royale games require you to pay full attention to your surroundings if you want to succeed. Turning down the volume in these titles means you won't be able to hear enemy footsteps or incoming projectiles and can easily lead to an early demise.
Tetris 99 is one of the few games in the genre that doesn't require audio for victory. The music is excellent — especially if you make it to the top fifty players — and there is a ton of variety with specific themes based on classic Nintendo titles. Still, it doesn't hurt to throw on something else while you strive for a Tetris Maximus.
9 Elden Ring
Elden Ring contains a sprawling open world full of challenging bosses, dungeons, and more. Nearly every element of the game — including the epic soundtrack — strengthens the experience and creates a sense of immersion that will keep you invested for hours at a time.
If you're facing a boss for the tenth time, harvesting runes, or playing Elden Ring for the third go, it's easy to change the game's atmosphere by listening to music while playing it. If you're fighting Godrick or Malenia with some Mastodon, Carly Rae Jepsen, or Vengaboys' We Like To Party playing in the background, you might make more progress than ever before — and maybe finally take them down.
8 Stardew Valley
There are tons of fantastic games that let you build a farm and mingle with the locals, but few provide the feeling of progress and comfort as effortlessly as Stardew Valley. Whether you're playing alone or with a friend, there is so much to do between work and socializing that you might want to throw on an album just to add something extra to the atmosphere as the virtual days fly by.
From taking care of your crops to exploring the mines, there is always going to be a bit of monotony in your everyday life in Stardew Valley. If you're planning on spending an entire day or week progressing through these sections of the game, you can easily knock out an album or two before it's time to harvest your crops and repeat the cycle again.
7 The Binding Of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac made its debut in 2011 and was one of the first games to help popularize the roguelike genre. Inspired by The Legend of Zelda, this top-down dungeon crawler is full of new characters, items, and endings to unlock. If you're playing the latest expansion, The Binding of Isaac: Repentance, it can take hundreds of hours to see everything the game has to offer.
It's easy to sink hours into The Binding of Isaac in one sitting, as each run can be completely different from the one before. Listening to the same background music on a loop might not be ideal, so throwing on some of your own music could make escaping the basement a much more enjoyable experience.
6 Death Stranding
Before setting off on a long trip, you might want to put some time aside to prepare a playlist for the journey. If you're driving to work or walking across a post-apocalyptic America, music can help the time pass by quickly and distract you from the monotony of your travels.
Most of Death Stranding is about getting from point A to point B, and it can take quite some time to build the necessary items to reach your destination. You can listen to music from bands like Bring Me the Horizon and Chvrches in Sam's private room, but he doesn't have a portable music player for whenever he is outside. It's easy to turn the volume down and listen to your own music while playing - as long as you stay on guard for BTs.
5 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
Every Tony Hawk game typically features a soundtrack of licensed songs from iconic bands like Dead Kennedys, Primus, and more that enhance the immersion of skateboarding through iconic locations. These soundtracks have a legendary reputation, but as great as they are, there is such a thing as listening to Superman by Goldfinger one too many times during a session.
There are just under 60 songs in 2020 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, but after listening to each of them enough times, you might want to listen to something else while you attempt to break your old high score on the Mall level. Whether you're playing it on a console or PC, it's super easy to turn the in-game music off, then throw on a record or Spotify to listen to whatever you want as you complete missions and reach new heights.
4 Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing is one of the few series that encourages you to relax and enjoy your time as you slowly work away at creating the perfect home. It's one of the few series set to real-time, which means it takes place at the same time and day as you're playing it, and is known for being a game that you can easily spend weeks, months, or even years playing before getting bored.
The soundtrack in each Animal Crossing game is diverse and full of catchy tracks, but after spending a couple of hundred hours listening to it, you might eventually want something else. Unlike most games, you don't really need to concentrate on combat or solving puzzles, so you can throw on anything you like without having to worry about it being too distracting.
3 Pokemon
Over time, Pokemon has become one of the best series to play while listening to some music on the side. It's always worth listening to the game audio when you first walk into a new town or battle one of your rivals, but like most games, you'll spend so much time in certain areas that it will be hard not to listen to something else to avoid hearing the same tune for hours on end.
Catching them all and completing your Pokedex is not an easy task, which is why you will most likely spend a bunch of time running in circles, either looking for rare Pokemon or leveling up your party to make them stronger. Long-time trainers know to have music ready for these long expeditions, especially if they plan on searching for a shiny variant of their favorite creature.
2 Vampire Survivors
One of the most surprising aspects of Vampire Survivors is how well it balances being both a roguelike and an idle game. The first five to ten minutes of any run are dedicated to building your character up to an unstoppable force of nature, while the rest of the game is essentially just you taking out thousands of enemies without taking a step.
The music in Vampire Survivors is perfect for setting the tone of the game and creating a killer atmosphere, but once you play each map a few times, you might want something else to score your run. The most you can play on a majority of the maps in Vampire Survivors is thirty minutes, which means you can almost listen to an entire album while you slay thousands of undead minions.
1 Picross
Whether you're playing a JRPG, MMO, or any other genre of game, there is usually a moment when you realize you could probably be listening to music instead of hearing the game audio over and over again. Whatever you choose to throw on can change the entire tone of whichever situation you're in, for better or worse. Picross — and many puzzle games like it — is one of the few series that doesn't lose any of its magic if you decide to mute it for something else.
Like solving a daily crossword or cross-stitching, playing Picross is almost better when paired with a secondary activity like watching a movie or listening to music. Its puzzles are meant to be relaxing, and solving them while finally catching up on your favorite band's discography can be an incredible way to wind down after a long week.